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This blog page has been launched to promote femininity and female empowerment, and to raise visibility of Fascinating Womanhood: an international femininity movement and guide to help women make their marriage into a lifelong love affair in the bestselling book written by Helen B. Andelin.

"Homemaking is surely in reality the most important work in the world. What do ships, railways, mines, cars, government etc. exist for except that people may be fed, warmed and safe in their own homes? The homemakers job is one for which all others exist"~ C.S. Lewis

~ By Dixie Andelin Forsyth

I recently got an email from a friend in Europe who told me she regularly gets confronted by people who criticize her for wanting to be a stay at home mother and full-time homemaker. They tell her there are so many machines today that make housework easy, no woman can be fulfilled or satisfied if she doesn’t have a career of her own. They imply that making money is always the most important and fulfilling thing a woman can do. You earn money at work but you make a life at home. It must be constantly created—it doesn’t just happen and doesn’t maintain itself.

At the end of the day, who wants to live at work, even if it’s at a beautiful office? We all want to come home where we can relax, sleep, eat, and be ourselves. What our homes look like, and feel like makes a big difference. It contributes to not only our self-esteem and well-being, but, could take away from it if slapped together and ignored. The ability to not only create atmosphere but update and maintain it, is an art as well as a skill.

Anyone who assumes that carefully created and sustained atmospheres are easy and quick, has no idea of the creativity and dedication it takes to be successful at it. It takes not only thought and time but considerable effort, especially if doing it on a budget is a necessity. It can’t just be done once either—it must be regularly updated and attended to. The secret is, when you’re good at it, you make it look easy—maybe that’s where the misunderstanding comes in and this essential skill gets taken for granted.

If you’ve ever come home to the smell of a home cooked meal and a tidy, well ordered house, you understand the instant peace it delivers. On the other hand, if you’ve ever come home to a dark and empty house with laundry still to be done and dinner unplanned as well as unprepared, you know the difference. I know which one my husband prefers. He appreciates the love and effort that goes into making our house a home.

I’m not saying women can’t work—or even shouldn’t. Many women work extremely hard and do both. But to marginalize the value of homemaking and creating a welcoming warm atmosphere for loved ones, is a deep underestimation of the value of it. Like C.S. Lewis said— “The homemakers job is one for which all others exist.” And no one does it better or more naturally than a feminine, fascinating woman.